A/n finally an update on this story. Sorry I wanted to continue but life kept getting in the way. Please go check out my profile and vote in the poll that is found there. Feel free to go back and read the other stories in this series. The order can be found in my profile. Happy reading.

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Foggy brown eyes slowly opened and looked around in confusion. Emily let out the breath she was holding when she saw Spencer's eyes open.

"Hey there, Spencer. It's so good to see those eyes," she whispered. He frowned he was confused. Listening for a second he realized he was in a hospital.

"What happened?" he whispered. His voice was sore from not using it for so long.

"You were shot by the unsub," Morgan explained. Just then the doctor walked in.

"Good evening Dr. Reid. My name is Dr. Westlake it's good to see you awake.

"Hi, can I have some water, please?" the still out of it agent requested.

"Yes, you can but small sips," the doctor instructed handing him the cup on the table next to his bed. "You are a very lucky young man. You were shot in the neck just above your bullet proof vest. We nearly lost you, but we brought you back and were able to repair the damage." Spencer frowned he could feel the familiar warmth of drugs coursing through his system and he panicked. He turned wide eyes to Emily and Morgan.

"Drugs?" he asked his voice shaking. Emily nodded her head regretfully.

"They had to, kid. They lowered the dose as soon as we explained your situation, but they couldn't stop it completely. Your body needed to heal and you getting agitated due to the pain wouldn't have helped it.

"We'll help you through the withdrawal symptoms," the doctor assured. Nodding reluctantly Spencer sank back against his pillows. That little bit of interaction took everything he had.

"How long will I have to stay here? When can I fly back to Virginia? Emily and I have a four-month-old who needs her parents," Spencer explained.

"We want to keep you here for a couple more days. Let the Morphine work its way out of your system and get you started on 800MG Ibuprofen. It's a safe alternative for you," the doctor answered.

"I don't want it," Spencer argued.

"It won't hurt you and you won't get addicted to it. If you don't, you'll take longer to recover. The longer you take to recover the longer before you can play with Jessie like I know you want to," Emily stated. Spencer sighed he knew she was right.

"Fine, then, I'll take it. If you're sure it's not addictive?" he checked. The doctor shook his head.

"No, it's not, well I'll let you rest for now, but I'll be back to check on you. Now that you're awake we're going to lower the dose even more. We can't just stop it cold turkey, but we will continue to lower the dose until you're off it completely hopefully sometime later this evening or tomorrow morning. If you don't have any questions I need to get to another patient," the doctor said heading for the door. Everyone shook their heads so the doctor left closing the door behind him.

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Morgan stood up and headed for the door.

"I'll go let everyone know you're awake and give you two a bit of time to yourself."

"Thanks, Morgan," Emily said as she leaned in and kissed Spencer's lips softly. Once the door closed, she let the tears fall.

"Don't cry, sweetheart. I'm going to be okay," Spencer assured.

"I know that now. We didn't know that a few hours ago, though." Reaching out as carefully as he could, Spencer reached out and tried to pull Emily into a hug. Emily moved so he wouldn't hurt himself any more than he already was.

"I love you so much and I'm here for you through everything," she told him.

"The withdrawal symptoms aren't going to be fun," Spencer admitted.

"I know, but we'll get through it together," she said just as the others arrived at the door happy to see that he was going to be okay.

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The next day and a half were some of the hardest times Spencer had ever been through. Spencer was right the withdrawal was brutal, but he was never alone. Emily stuck by him through everything. The rest of the team understood their request for privacy. They brought things as they requested and did what they could to support the couple. Finally, all the Morphine was out of his system and he was sleeping peacefully. Stretching Emily stood up and winced. Her back was not happy with some of the positions she'd been in over the last couple of days. Assured that Spencer would sleep soundly for the next few hours she walked out of the room and headed for the waiting room to see who was there. Garcia and Hotch were sitting on one of the couches playing cards. Emily smiled when she realized they were playing Uno.

"Hey, taking a page from Spencer's and my book?" she teased. The two other agents looked up and smiled.

"It seemed like a good way to pass the time," Hotch answered.

"How's Reid doing?" Garcia wondered.

"He's finally asleep. I think I want to run back to the hotel and get a shower if that's okay?" she requested.

"Sure, that's fine, go get a shower and take a nap. Hopefully Reid can get out later today and we can all go home," Hotch answered.

"Thanks, can one of you stay with him in case he wakes up?" Emily asked.

"Sure thing, don't worry about it," the unit chief answered as he stood up.

"Why don't you go with her, Pen?" he suggested.

"I'm fine, Hotch, I don't need anyone to go with me," Emily argued.

"You haven't slept much over the last day and a half. Spencer would have our heads if we let you drive right now," Garcia replied. Nodding in defeat she gave her friend a smile as the two of them headed for the hotel and some much-needed rest for Emily.

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Emily pulled out her phone once she was in the car deciding it was time to check on her daughter.

"Hello?" came her father's voice.

"Hi, Dad, how's Jessie doing?"

"Hi Em, she's doing fine. Your mom and her are looking at some of her picture books. She just had a bottle and will probably go to sleep soon. How's Spencer doing?"

"He's doing good. Hopefully he'll get discharged today. I'm heading back to the hotel for a shower and a nap," Emily explained.

"That's good, take care of yourself and we'll see you when you get home. I love you, Emily," her father told her.

"Love you to, Dad. Bye, talk to you later."

"Goodbye, Emily," Michael Prentiss said ending the call and heading back to the living room where his wife and granddaughter were. Arriving back at the hotel Emily found everyone else coming from the restaurant. JJ was carrying a to-go bag full of food.

"Hey there you two. What are you doing back here?"

"I brought Emily back so she could grab a quick shower and a nap. Hotch is staying with Reid," Garcia answered. Just then both she and Emily's stomachs growled. Reaching into the bag JJ pulled out two of the to-go boxes the bag held.

"We got you food," she explained.

"Guess we'll take Aaron's back to him," Rossi stated. Nodding the girls thanked them and headed for their rooms to eat the food and allow Emily to get some much-needed rest.

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A cough from the bed alerted Hotch that Reid was awake. He'd finished the food the others had brought back for him and was working on reports on his laptop.

"Hey there, Reid," he greeted.

"Hey Hotch, where's Em?"

"She went back to the hotel for a shower and a nap. She asked me to stay with you, so you weren't alone when you woke up." Reid nodded he was glad he wasn't alone.

"Any idea when I can go home?" he wondered.

"Maybe I can answer that?" came Dr. Westlake's voice as he entered the room. "How does right now sound?"

"Really?" Reid checked.

"Yes, you're tolerating the strong Ibuprofen well and you haven't had any withdrawal symptoms in over eight hours. I feel comfortable releasing you. You just need to sign the discharge papers. Make sure to make an appointment with your doctor in three weeks so they can check the incision. Hopefully it will have healed enough to get the stitches out."

"When can I go back to work?" the genius wondered.

"Reid," Hotch admonished but he was smiling.

"Well it's Wednesday now. Rest through the weekend and you can go back on desk duty only on Monday. You can't go into the field until your doctor clears you. Hopefully when he sees you in three weeks," the doctor answered. Spencer huffed he hated being at a desk.

"Can I at least travel with the team?" he begged. The doctor thought about it briefly.

"Yes, but the same rules apply, no field work."

"Does that count as a proper second opinion this time?" Reid asked Hotch giving him a slight smile. Hotch chuckled he remembered when Reid had tried to claim that because he was a doctor that he could make the decision when it was fine for him to travel after getting shot in the knee.

"Yes, it does," Hotch replied. The doctor gave them a confused look.

"I get the feeling there's a story that goes with that comment." The two agents nodded. "Well here are your discharge papers, go ahead and sign them. Once someone can help you get dressed you are good to go. Thank you and your team for all you do," the doctor said as he headed for the door.

"Thank you for what you did as well, Dr. Westlake," Reid replied signing the papers and walking them over to the doctor before grabbing his go-bag and heading into the bathroom to get what he could do on his own in terms of getting dressed.

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An hour later found the entire team on the jet happy to be heading home.

"Can you believe Halloween is in a month?" Spencer asked excitedly. Emily smiled she knew it was his favorite holiday and she was glad he was going to be able to celebrate.

"Yeah, I know you guys are bringing Jessie around to trick-or-treat, right?" JJ asked. The two of them nodded.

"Pen and I are going to bring Jack as well," Hotch added.

"That's great I can't wait to see their costumes," JJ said. Spencer smiled as he yawned.

"Why don't you get settled on the couch and sleep until we land," Emily suggested.

"Okay, sounds good to me," the still recovering genius agreed as he settled on the couch mindful of his healing gunshot wound.

A/n please read and review. Also along with the poll I've got on my profile I'm looking for some prompts. My previous poll was asking which pairing that I've never writen before you wanted to see and Garcia/Will won. So I need some prompts. The story can be romantic or just friendship, I'm up for suggestions.